An Alternate History: Reloaded
by bluelizard91
Summary: AU (obviously). 'Adopted' from SD1o1. What if Kurt had never been separated from Mystique? What if he grew up into a terrorist like his mother? Can he learn a better way, or will family ties prove stronger than 'the right thing' to do? Rated T 'cause I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone, its bluelizard91 again! Now, I'm sure that someone out there is yelling at me for starting a new story when I still have two other stories to update, but hear me out okay? Anyway, I was surfing FF and looking for some good Nightcrawler stories when I found 'An Alternate History' by SD1o1. It was a good story, though with rather short chapters, but it was never finished. Don't you just hate it when that happens? I know I do. Since the story was never finished, and the author said that he/she just didn't have the time or interest anymore, I decided to adopt (read: take over) the story. I have PM'd the author about adopting the story, but I haven't gotten a reply yet…For all that I know, the author may not even visit FF anymore. So, there you have it. There will be some changes to the story to suit my writing style and my way of doing things, so enjoy! Or don't, as the case may be.

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men anything. Not a single comic book or poster, sadly.

Chapter 1

A low hiss, like steam from a pipe, escaped the clenched teeth of the otherwise silent figure crouched in the dark bushes, betraying his nervousness.

"What is it, Kurt?" Another, female figure whispered from the darkness. It was more of a statement than a question.

"They're coming," came the terse reply from the one named Kurt.

"Yes." The voice of the woman was cold and hard, but tinged with excitement. Kurt could feel the sneer in her voice. His tail lashed furiously, echoing the woman's sentiments.

"Hush!" The woman suddenly beckoned for silence. Kurt saw her hunch down in the dim moonlight. He turned his face to the narrow road beyond the shelter of the brushy forest in time to see the first flood of yellow headlights illuminate the asphalt. He too dropped to all fours and waited. A small, grim smile played across his features. The yellow of a vehicle's headlights came closer, and the sound of a radio tuned to the music station became clear.

"Ugh, turn that music down," growled the burly man driving the truck. He gave an annoyed sideways glare from beneath his black plaid racer cap.

"Oh come on O'Hara, it's just some music," replied the smaller man in the passenger seat, who gave an annoyed look at the driver in return, pushing his baseball cap back to see better.

"That may be, but we been listen' ta that racket for an hour now." The driver stated flatly.

"No we ain't," retorted the smaller man.

"Yeah we have," snorted O'Hara.

"Ain't."

"Have."

"Ain't."

"We have too," shouted the driver, who had now lost all patience. He reached over to the radio and forcibly turned down the blaring country music.

"Now what'd ya do that for?" the smaller man yelled, leaning forward in his seat. He quickly turned it up again.

"Mitchell you turn that junk down, now!" When the other refused he again attempted to cut off the wailing music, bur he momentarily let his hands leave the wheel. That was all it took.

"O'Hara! Watch it!" Mitchell yelled as the truck swerved. O'Hara spun back to the road and instinctively jammed his foot down on the brake. The truck skidded to a halt in the middle of the lonely road. It sat there, idling. The driver quickly put the gear into park before turning on his partner.

"Why'd you yell like that?! Ya darn near scared the bejeesus outta me!" O'Hara yelled at his partner, now royally ticked off.

"Sorry O'Hara. Just thought…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." O'Hara grumbled under his breath.

Mitchell's eyes nervously scanned the road ahead. "I…I thought I saw an animal, like a dog, in the road…"

O'Hara ignored him. "Sounded like a tire mighta popped," he grunted in annoyance, digging around for a flashlight and opening the truck door. He heaved his large frame out of the vehicle and took a moment to turn on his light, before leaning over to check the tires of the truck.

"You gonna help me?" He half snarled at Mitchell.

"Whatever," Mitchell replied reluctantly.

O'Hara began grumbling again at the other man's laziness, but he was suddenly cut off.

"Uh…O'Hara, we kind of have company," Mitchell pointed out nervously as he too clambered from the cab of the truck. O'Hara straightened up from his task and followed his associate's gaze into the pool of yellow light spread by the headlights. There stood a woman-a _blue skinned_ woman-with a gun in her hand, which was pointed directly at the trembling Mitchell's head.

"Tch, tch, tch," she tutted with a smirk, "Smells like someone's been drinking."

The two men were caught off guard for a moment. Mitchell raised his hands slowly. "Listen lady, we don't want no trouble…"

"Oh, but I do," she smiled almost sweetly, "You have something I want."

As Mitchell sputtered, O'Hara slowly moved his free hand to grip the butt of the pistol hidden beneath his jacket. In the black night beyond there was a faint whooshing sort of noise, and the smell of brimstone wafted to his nostrils on the breeze. He felt himself sweating as he gripped the gun, desperately calculating the odds. Only a mutant could have blue skin like this lady, and there was no telling what she could do or how strong she was…

"Kurt!" the woman shouted suddenly, her eyes darting to focus on a point in the darkness, her gun still steady.

"It's not here!" came the frustrated voice of a young man, somewhere behind the truck.

O'Hara acted. Whipping out the pistol he fired at the woman. Her senses honed, the woman dropped into a crouch below the whistling bullet and rolled swiftly into the shadows, all in one fluid movement. Pumping with adrenaline O'Hara spun around to where the other voice had been, his gun and flashlight at the ready, but only the road and shrubbery greeted him.

He swore angrily and raced to the back of the truck to see if they'd been robbed. He had only a moment to detect a slight scrabbling noise underneath the truck, before something swept his legs right out from beneath him. He landed flat on his face, his gun and flashlight knocked from his hands. He struggled only for an instant, reaching blindly for his gun, before a heavy _something_ landed on his back and struck his neck. Everything went completely dark.

"O'Hara?!" Mitchell shouted in a panic, erratically turning this way and that as he looked for his partner. He gave a choked cry of shock when the blue woman appeared before him, seemingly from nowhere, and pinched his neck. He dropped to the ground in unconsciousness.

"Kurt!" the woman shouted again, striding quickly to the area behind the truck where O'Hara went down. A shadowy figure with glowing yellow eyes stepped away from O'Hara's unconscious body and grabbed the woman's hand. With another soft 'whoosh' of air they were gone.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: HI everyone, I'm back! I don't have much to say for this chapter, except that it was orignally two chapters on SD1o1's account. I just combined them into one chapter because they were a little short. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 2

Mystique slammed the door in her rage as she stormed through the front entryway towards the living room. Anger and frustration was written all over her face in a vicious scowl. She stalked over to the coffee table and snatched up the receiver of the cordless unit. Muttering furiously to herself, she punched in a number and waited. The phone rang for a moment and was quickly picked up on the other end.

"…Hello?" A man's voice responded.

"Johnston?" Mystique barked.

"Yes…who…"

"It's Raven." She paused for a moment, gathering and concentrating her anger.

"…"

The other line went silent, except for a sharp intake of air. Mystique allowed herself a grim smile as she heard it.

"I'm guessing that you already know why I've called?" She spat.

"Uh, well you see… about that…" The man called Johnston began hesitantly.

"Where was it!?" Mystique half screamed into the phone, ignoring the man's attempts to explain. "You said it would be on that truck!"

"Uh…well, the thing is…" Johnston sputtered.

"Answer me!"

"They changed it-the shipping date. They must have done it overnight. I…I was positive it was being moved last night but they changed it…" he trailed off.

"What?" Mystique asked in harsh disbelief, "Why would they…" But she stopped in the midst of her musing. "You fool!" she yelled, gritting her teeth in outrage, "they changed it because of you! Idiot! They must have overheard you talking!"

"That…that's impossible!" the man protested, "They couldn't have! I called you from home!"

"The line must have been tapped you delinquent!" she hissed. "They might still be listening in on us right now!"

"But, but…"

"Never mind," She cut him off abruptly, "We'll just have to be faster than them. Where is it headed now? What is the new truck's route?"

"Uh...Is it really a good idea to be talking about this? You just said that they might still be listening..." Johnston began to point out, but a wrathful growl on Mystique's end shut him up. There was the sound of many papers being shuffled through before Johnston answered the woman's question.

"It...it'll be there tomorrow morning. It's on its way to Bayville, downtown Bayville. To the new research facility there…"

Mystique didn't give him time to finish. She slammed the receiver down and hurried to the door, slamming it behind her as well.

XM:E

Kurt sighed and lowered the hi-tech binoculars from his eyes. He turned away from the twinkling stars outside his window and dropped the binoculars on his bed, a moment later he flopped down himself. A glance at the clock on the wall told him it was one in the morning. He closed his eyes wearily and gave a quiet groan of annoyance. He was tired, but he knew he couldn't sleep yet. His mother would come for him any moment and they would be off again, hot on the trail of the object his mother sought.

He scowled in the dark. Stupid truck men, he thought. Why wasn't the box there? He'd searched the length of the truck but to no avail. A small knot of panic formed in his stomach. What if it had been there and he hadn't seen it? No, no, he reassured himself, if it had been there he would have found it for sure. Aside from his teleportation, he had a veritable lottery of lesser side abilities-keen night vision, the ability to stick to and crawl on things like a spider, incredible agility and flexibility, considerable strength for his size, and a prehensile tail that could support the weight of a grown man.

He laughed silently at the memory of the burly man he'd toppled to the ground. As big as that guy was, one sweep of Kurt's tail was all it took to knock him off his feet. His night vision easily picked up the look of dazed surprise on the man's face as he face-planted on the asphalt.

"Kurt!" He jumped as his mother's voice called sharply from below, accompanied by the door slamming once again.

He ran a hand through his hair and was on his feet again. Immediately he teleported to the front entrance and followed his mother to the long black limo waiting for them in the driveway. They slipped inside, and with a soft crunching of gravel the car pulled out of the driveway and moved down the deserted road towards New York.

XM:E

The front entrance to the house for the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants rattled loudly on its hinges. Something was outside on the front stoop, pounding insistantly upon it.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" shouted a gangly limbed, frog-like teenaged boy as he hopped towards the door. The boy wore a set of white and tan pajamas, testifying to the small hours of the morning. In the blink of an eye his tongue shot out and wrapped around the grimy brass doorknob, turning it and swinging the door open. The boy was momentarily struck dumb by the sight of the person standing on the threshold.

"Uh…uh, Mystique?" he babbled nervously, "Where'd you come from? I thought you was in Pennsylvania…"

"Well apparently I'm not any more." Mystique growled. "So astute of you to notice, Toad," she added, looking down at the boy as if he were nothing more than a mud puddle.

"Whatcha doin' back so soon?" Toad asked distractedly, shoving a dirty finger in his ear and picking out little bits of scum.

"None of your business," she snapped as she looked past him down the hall. "Where are the others?"

"Uh, they're around here somewhere, yo. Probably sleepin' er somethin'."

"Well, would you kindly ask them to come down?" Mystique asked. Toad didn't seem to notice the deadly edge behind her honeyed tone of voice.

He turned and yelled up the stairs, "Hey, yo! The Boss lady's back and she wants ta talk!"

Mystique rolled her eyes, "Toad, you idiot, I could have yelled just fine by myself."

"Oh, but it's so much more fun to hear when he tries it," sneered a voice from behind her.

Toad peeked around Mystique to see the speaker. "Yo 'Crawler."

Kurt rolled his eyes in disdain but didn't answer.

"Did you say something?" called a groggy voice from upstairs.

"Yes, I said if you all don't get your sorry hides down here in five seconds I'll personally have them tanned!" Mystique responded hotly, rapidly losing her patience.

"It's like four in the morning," grumbled a brown haired teenaged boy as he descended the stairs in a most ungraceful manner, wearing nothing but a rumpled pair of black loungers. Behind him a hugely fat boy and a skinny silver haired boy, also teenagers, stumbled awkwardly. They were similarly dressed in whatever they used for night clothes and trying to rub the sleep out of their eyes.

"I am fully aware of that," Mystique muttered in response to the brown haired boy's statement. Behind her Kurt yawned widely. Toad couldn't help catching a glimpse of sharp fangs, and shuddered.

"There is something I need you to do." Mystique began, getting straight to the point. She paused to make sure that the sleepy boys standing before her were listening. "At some point this morning a truck will be entering Bayville-"

The silver haired boy scoffed, "Yeah, like that's never happened before."

She shot him a look filled with daggers before continuing. "It has something very valuable onboard. I want you four to stop it. We will do the rest," Mystique finished, indicating herself and her son.

"Hey! Look who it is! Little Boy Blue!" The silver haired boy exclaimed in a glee that dripped with sarcasm.

Kurt scowled in annoyance, his glowing yellow eyes glaring in disgust at the silver haired boy.

"Yes, Pietro, it's me. Who else would I be?"

"Hey! Didn't you two go to Pennsylvania to stop that truck?" The boy called Pietro continued, talking so fast that he was unaware of the trouble he was racing into. "What's the matter? Did your little pet fail his-"

Pietro's sassy taunt went no further. He gave a surprised squawk when one of Kurt's three-fingered hands shot out like a bolt of lightning, catching him at the throat like a bolt of lightning. Pietro choked out a protest as the hand tightened around his throat, cutting off his air. Kurt leaned close into Pietro's face, his fangs bared wrathfully. He was about to speak when Mystique beat him to it.

"Kurt." That was all she said, but after a moment Kurt loosened his grip on the silver haired boy's throat, and withdrew his hand. Pietro gasped for air and gave Kurt a murderous look. Mystique glared at him.

"Keep your loudmouth to yourself and my business to me." Mystique ordered Pietro flatly. She then turned to Kurt with a smile. "You should go rest, Kurt."

Immediately, Kurt was gone in a puff of smoke, presumably to the large bedroom awaiting him upstairs.

Mystique turned back to the exhausted Brotherhood boys. She smiled again, though much more coldly. "As for you..." She paused for a moment before shouting with contempt, "Go back to bed!"

The Brotherhood boys wasted no time in doing as the irate woman said.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hi everyone, here's another chapter of An Alternate History: Reloaded. I know that some of you are waiting on the next chapter of Bardock's Journey, but it might be a little while before I post it. I'm in the middle of writer's block right now...I'll try to update that story soon, I promise!

Chapter 3

"I can't wait to get a snack, I totally missed breakfast today," a brown haired, blue eyed teen girl muttered grumpily as she entered the kitchen. A pale skinned, teenaged girl with jaw length brownish hair and bleached white bangs framing her face sat in the window seat, reading a book. A tall, shapely, red haired young woman was stirring something in a mixing bowl by the stove. "What are you making, Jean?"

"Double chocolate chip cookies," the red haired woman replied. "They'll be done in about an hour, if you're interested."

"I don't think I can wait that long," the brown haired girl sighed. "I'll just have a snack pack or something." She opened a drawer and considered the choices inside before picking out a small package of Oreo cookies. Seconds later, a younger brown haired boy walked into the room, clearly intent on the same thing she was. He paused for a moment to lightly tap himself on the side of his head. One second and a soft 'pop' later, there were six boys instead of one, all with the same brown hair and freckles. The older girls took this occurrence in stride, clearly used to this sort of thing. The brown haired girl walked over to the refrigerator and opened it, glancing inside. She groaned exasperatedly when she didn't find what she was looking for.

"All right, who drank the last of the milk?" She glared accusingly at the younger boy and his temporary army of clones.

"It wasn't us, Kitty," one of the boys said as all six of them proceeded to raid the cabinets.

Kitty rolled her eyes, clearly not believing the younger boy. "Whatever you say, Jamie. Now I have, like, nothing to go with my cookies." She closed the refrigerator and left the room in a huff, brushing past a tall, brown haired young man with red sunglasses on the way out.

"What's with her?" The young man asked, casting a curious look at Kitty's retreating ponytail.

"Hi, Scott. Evan drank all the milk again," Jamie replied as his last clone disappeared with another 'pop'. He opened a snack package of cookies himself and pulled one out, biting into it.

"She's probably annoyed that school is starting next week," Jean spoke up. "No one's looking forward to summer being over."

"Or the homework, ugh." Evan, an African-American teenaged boy, laughed ruefully as he edged past Scott to grab a snack pack for himself.

All of the teenagers in the room sighed. Summer was drawing to a close, and no one wanted to see it end.

"Oh well. At least we'll have something to keep us busy, right?" Jean pointed out optimistically.

"Yeah, that'll be great…" the girl on the window seat scoffed sarcastically in her Southern accent, closing her book and heading out of the kitchen towards her room. She didn't get very far before she paused, listening. The others heard it too.

*X-men!* A voice called telepathically. Everyone in the kitchen recognized the voice as their mentor, Professor Xavier. *The Brotherhood boys are causing trouble down town, I think they are looking for something. You must stop them!*

"We're on it!" Scott answered readily, both to Xavier and the looks of his teammates.

XM:E

As the red and white sports convertible reached the crest of the hill an unwelcome sight greeted the eyes of the X-men. Ahead of them on the road a large semi-trailer was stopped, holding up all the traffic in that lane. In front of the vehicle stood a half-circle of grinning teenage boys.

"There they are!" Jean called. The girl with bleached bangs rolled her eyes. "Thank you Mrs. Obvious," she muttered.

The sports convertible screeched to a halt about a block away from the scene. Around them cars honked and people shouted angrily at the holdup. The five teens quickly exited the sports car and raced down the street, bracing themselves for a confrontation.

"Remember, everyone—restraint is key." Scott reminded his teammates. "We don't want people hating us more than they already do."

The others nodded to show that they understood. A person in a brown sedan yelled some obscene things about mutants. One of the boys standing before the semi-trailer, a hugely fat one in overalls, green T-shirt, and sporting a greasy blonde mohawk, laughed heartily and smashed the front of the sedan with one sledgehammer-like fist. Kitty groaned.

"Try telling that to them."

A brown haired teenager, wearing a brown and black leather uniform with a glass visor-like helmet, stood with his arms folded and an annoyed frown on his face. "Where is she?!" He growled. "We've been standing here for five minutes and she hasn't showed yet."

"Yeah but it is kinda fun, isn't it, Lance?" Pietro pointed out, in his characteristically fast manner. "I mean, it's not like anyone can make us move out of the way." He motioned nonchalantly towards the agitated police huddled indecisively on the sidewalk. Pietro happened to glance upwards. "Hey, look there they are!"

Lance followed Pietro's pointing finger to the top of a four story building, where two shadowy figures stood. He grinned. "Took them long enough."

"But look who else is here!" Toad moaned as the X-men raced down the center of the road towards them.

"Well, if it isn't the X-Dorks," Pietro sneered as they halted about twenty feet away. The driver of the semi-trailer slipped quietly out the cab and ran away, fearing the fresh wave of mutants who had just appeared on the scene.

Lance glanced up at the two on the roof. _Come on, hurry up_ he willed silently.

"What have we told you about causing trouble?" Scott shouted confidently, and more than a little annoyed. He placed one hand on his visor, ready for a fast shot.

"Don't know, guess we wasn't listenin'," Toad taunted.

One the roof four stories up, Mystique had caught a glimpse of the rivaling mutants facing off on the street below. "Put these on," she ordered urgently as she pressed a pair of thick gloves into Kurt's hands.

"Be careful," she added. Kurt nodded, and teleported away.

On the ground the fight had commenced. Pietro had said something particularly nasty about Evan and the African-American youth, having no self control worth speaking of, promptly launched a wave of bone spikes at Pietro. Now the two rival teams were exchanging blows with a will, the Brotherhood showing little regard to the damage they were causing. As Jean deflected a sewer cover with her telekinesis she turned to Scott.

"Scott! There's someone in the truck! I don't know where they came from, but they're with the Brotherhood!"

Scott acknowledged her with a nod and regrouped his team. By this point the street was empty of humans and the Brotherhood had been soundly trounced. Fred had been phased waist deep into the asphalt by Kitty, Pietro had been knocked unconscious by an optic blast from Scott, Toad was pinned to the ground by bone spikes, and Lance was in the act of retreating as his teammates fell. Up on the roof, Mystique bit her lip and clenched her fists, willing herself to stay calm.

Kurt was having trouble finding what he was looking for. He searched frantically up and down the dim interior of the trailer, but found nothing. He swore angrily and started again at the back, running his hands along every shelf within reach. Outside something hit the truck hard, making several boxes fall down around him. He was about to swear again when something caught his eye. There, in a far dark corner was nestled a small white metal briefcase. He eagerly reached for it but stopped short. A girl had just walked through the wall, right in front of him! Then again, stranger things had happened…

The girl took one look at Kurt and promptly shrieked in fright, before dashing back out the way she'd come.

"Kitty, what is it?" Scott asked worriedly as the brown haired girl skidded to a halt before them.

"There's, like, some kind of freak in there!" Kitty panicked before fainting.

Now was Kurt's chance. He reached for the briefcase again, but just as he grabbed the handle there was a terrible crash and a metallic ripping noise as Scott blew a gaping hole in the side of the truck. Kurt jumped out of the way in surprise, but was knocked to the floor of the truck by another blast, stunned. He felt himself being lifted up by some unseen force.

Evan wrinkled his nose as he saw the blue furry person being levitated into the open by Jean. "What is that thing?"

"A better question is, what's he doing here?" Scott exclaimed as he ran to where the dazed individual hung in the air.

As Scott neared him Jean called a warning, "Hurry up! I can't hold him for long!"

"Let me get 'im!" The brunette girl with bleached bangs yelled, darting ahead of Scott. She quickly peeled off a glove and touched her bare hand to the stranger's face.

Kurt gave a pained shout as he felt the dizziness overtake him. He had never felt anything like this before, and he never wanted to feel it again. The briefcase dropped from his limp three-fingered hand, landing on the asphalt with a metallic clunk. He fell a moment after, the blackness threatening to overtake him completely.

The girl with bleached bangs withdrew her hand, her expression unreadable. Scott stepped forward to the blue mutant's side and picked up the briefcase. "What's this-"

But that was as far as he got. The blue mutant before him swept his feet out from beneath him before deftly throwing him headfirst against the battered truck. Scott collapsed to the ground beside the still unconscious Kitty, stunned. The effects of the girl's touch had worn off quickly and now the blue mutant was up. He bared his teeth and howled a beastly war cry, a split second before leaping at the nearest person-Jean.

Surprised by the blue mutant's speedy rush, Jean reflexively raised a hand to fend him off. But she was knocked to the ground as the blue mutant planted his oddly shaped feet squarely against her shoulders, putting the full force of his leap into her body. She went down heavily, flat on her back. Evan shot a volley of spikes past her prone figure, narrowly missing the blue mutant as he easily somersaulted out of the way. There was a loud 'bamf!' sound and Evan was hit from behind by a similar kick. The girl with bleached bangs gritted her teeth as she found herself facing the blue mutant alone.

"Ah have your power, Blue Boy, and ah have your thoughts!" She said trying to intimidate him. She blocked the angry punch he threw and she smiled triumphantly. "And anythin' you can do ah can do better!"

Kurt smiled back, but his was as cold as ice. He had been well trained in the martial arts since he was old enough to walk; he was not about to be defeated by some punk-goth girl with an overdone Southern accent. The two lunged at each other, Kurt lashing out and the Southern girl returning his efforts blow for blow.

Kitty moaned and looked up. _Oh no...now that thing is, like, killing everyone!_ She thought frantically to herself. A glimmer of glass caught her eye, a tiny vial of clear liquid rolled past her face. She took hold of it and gave a curious look before pocketing it. Professor Xavier might want to know about this. Just a few feet away a small white metallic briefcase lay on the ground, its lid popped open by the impact of its fall.

Just out of her line of sight there was a pained whoosh of air as a well aimed blow caught the Southern girl in the stomach. Kitty got to her hands and knees and quickly scurried over to the briefcase. She had just clicked it shut again, wondering what it had held, when a shadow passed over her. She looked up fearfully and saw the blue mutant looming over her. She gulped and withdrew her hand, bracing herself for the coming blow.

"I'll take that," the blue mutant demanded not so nicely and hooked one foot in the briefcase handle, flipping it up into his hand with one smooth movement. The next instant he was gone in a cloud of brimstone smoke, leaving Kitty choking and gasping for air.

Scott groaned and heard one of the girls coughing. He rubbed the sore spot on his head and tried to sit up. In the distance a car engine roared to life. Scott was up on his feet in an instant.

"My car!" he shouted in protest as he stumbled down the road in the general direction of his sports car. He saw the blue mutant speeding off in the flashy red vehicle; he was laughing in a taunting way. _I really should know better than to leave the keys in the ignition,_ he berated himself. His head still hurt from being thrown against a truck, so all he could do was watch as his beloved convertible zoomed off towards the horizon.

Suddenly the car swerved. The driver had vanished in an oddly colored cloud of smoke, leaving the car on a collision course with a telephone pole. Scott's heart sank as the sickening shriek of twisting metal reached him on the summer breeze.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N 8/12 2013 EDIT: Hi everyone! When I first posted this chapter I mentioned a poll for one of my other stories in this Author's Notes, but I've since closed the poll due to being on hiatus for an indefinite time. I'm back from hiatus now, but the poll won't be opened again for some time...I just wanted to clear that up! Enjoy the story!**

Chapter 4

The ride home for the X-men was silent. The absence of the usual joking and good humor that generally followed a mission weighed heavily on everyone. Each of the teens sat with their own thoughts, none of them smiling. Evan simply wondered who the unknown mutant was. Jean wondered what he had been doing in the truck and why she couldn't get a clear reading on his thoughts. Kitty pondered the contents of the vial in her pocket. The girl with bleached bangs ignored her aching stomach in favor of processing the thoughts and memories she had drained from the blue stranger, and Scott reminisced about his ruined convertible.

Storm glanced back from the driver's seat of the X-Van and frowned. "Children, you must cheer yourselves up."

"How can we?" Scott burst out. "We lost. Plain and simple."

Storm shook her head gravely. "No one in the world can win every time."

"Yeah. We were, like, bound to lose eventually." Kitty added in an unusually sagely manner.

The girl with bleached bangs huffed angrily. "But it's not like we even got beaten by the entire Brotherhood! It was only one person!"

The van was silent. The girl with bleached bangs folded her arms angrily and stared out the window. She knew all the others were thinking the same thing. Who was the blue mutant?

Kitty was suddenly seized by a pang of guilt and doubt. Should she tell the others about the vial she had found? What if it was nothing? What if it was something really important? Would the others be angry at her for stealing? She shifted nervously in her seat.

The van slowed as the large iron gate barricading the Institute creaked open.

Jean looked as though she was going to speak for a moment, then stopped and turned around to face the others.

"You know, we only lost because he had the element of surprise." It was a lame attempt at consolation and she knew it, but as the "older sister" of the team she felt obligated to try.

As the van came to a halt in the garage a familiar voice rang clear in their heads.

*Everyone, meet me in the library. We need to discuss what happened in town.*

XM:E

Professor Xavier made a steeple of his fingers, deep in thought. Around him the X-men sat tensely, Scott and Jean on one couch, Kitty and Storm on another. Evan leaned carelessly over the back of the couch close to Storm, and the girl with bleached bangs sat in an armchair by herself. Xavier, of course, was in his wheelchair.

"I believe we should begin with the identity of the new mutant." Xavier began after a long silence.

All of the teenagers sat up straighter, expectantly.

"Unfortunately, there is not a clear answer to give." The disappointment in the room was evident at these words.

"But Professor, didn't Cerebro pick up his mutant signature?" Scott asked.

"I'm afraid not. This mutant is surprisingly powerful. Somehow he must have known of Cerebro and blocked detection." The Professor fell silent again. The girl with bleached bangs shifted uncomfortably in her armchair as Xavier's eyes met hers.

Jean took a deep breath and began slowly, "Professor, I…I felt the presence of someone else there-"

The girl with bleached bangs felt her tolerance at the red haired girl wear thin. "Yeah Mystique!" she snapped. The others looked at her questioningly. She averted her gaze, stuttering as she attempted to explain.

"Ah, ah touched him. The blue mutant…"

Professor Xavier's study of her face deepened. She felt increasingly uneasy. Was he reading her mind? She opened her mouth to try to explain things better, but the professor interrupted.

"Rogue, I understand if you don't wish to speak of this in front of everyone. You may go."

The girl called Rogue stood and walked hastily from the room but paused, resting her hand on the door frame. She could feel everyone's eyes on her. A halting breath caught in her throat and a warm, salty tear coursed swiftly down her cheek. Then she was gone into the darkening hall.

"What?..." Jean asked, puzzled.

"When she is ready." Xavier's tone was quiet and firm. He turned his gaze to Kitty. "Kitty, I believe you have something for me."

Kitty jumped at the mention of her name; she had been lost in thought. "Uh, uh…something? For you? Oh, right…" She stood up from the couch and reached into her pocket.

"I think this was in the thing he was carrying," she chattered vaguely as she pulled the glass vial out and handed it over to the professor. He held it for a moment, turning it over in his hands as he examined it.

"Good work Kitty. We should give this to Hank to analyze."

XM:E

Mystique and Kurt were in the Brotherhood house, in the two-bedroom suite that they shared. Mystique sat on her bed, and Kurt perched on the footboard like a bird of prey. The eyes of mother and son alike glowed like the flame of the small jar candle that sat on the bedside table, wafting the scent of lavender into the air.

Mystique held the small metallic briefcase in her lap carefully, as if she were afraid of dropping it and damaging the precious contents. The barely hidden excitement in her face was that of a child who had just been given a Christmas present.

She unlocked the lid and threw it open eagerly, but her searching gaze quickly became livid.

"Where is it…" she whispered, almost trembling with the rage that now showed itself in every line of her face. Kurt narrowed his eyes and scowled.

"They must have taken it…I dropped the briefcase for a moment and…she…it was that girl! She was holding it!" He growled wrathfully. He leaped off from his perch on the foot-board and began pacing around the room, his tail lashing angrily behind him.

Mystique was silent. She had gone to so much trouble to track the pathogen to the laboratory in Pennsylvania, to convince the lab technician Johnston that he must help her, and now those meddling X-men had interfered once again in her plans. Those childish idealists had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

She glanced at the pacing form of her son. His face burned with fury, but she knew it burned with much more. She could feel his shame; he was blaming himself for losing the precious vial. The insecurity of his soul flashed in his eyes, prompting a response from Mystique's rarely displayed maternal side.

"It was not your fault," she said as soothingly as possible without appearing weak. "We should have considered that the X-men would meddle in our affairs."

Kurt slowed in his pacing and stopped. He bowed his head to let his longish black-blue hair fall forward to obscure his face from the world. It was a habit he had when he was feeling particularly low in some way.

"I failed…" Kurt stated quietly, in what would have been a blank manner to anyone else but Mystique. Being a mother, she could pick out each individual emotion in her son's voice - anger, shame, a plea for a second chance.

"No. It was not your fault." Mystique repeated, firmly. She stood up from the bed and approached her son to place her arms around his shoulders. He stiffened at her comfort. She felt a pang of guilt as she felt her son stiffen in her arms, like he was expecting a slap to the face instead of a hug. A small voice in the back of Mystique's mind began nagging her, telling her that she needed to be more open about her care and sincerity for the boy.

Mystique pushed past the emotional moment in favor of more pressing matters. She stepped back somewhat, keeping her hands upon her son's shoulders.

"I don't know why the X-Men took it, but I do have a plan to get it back…"

Kurt glanced up to see his mother smiling coldly in the rapidly descending twilight of the evening.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I have returned! Until I can get my notes all written up for my other stories again, I will likely be putting out the most updates on this story for now, since it's mainly editing and fine tuning the chapters already up on SD1o1's account. It won't come down to me writing the chapters from scratch until Chapter 13 or 14, I'd imagine...Anyway, here's a new chapter to tide you all over until I can update my other stories!**

Chapter 5

Kurt was awakened in the dead of night by Mystique's touch on his shoulder.

"It's time, Kurt," his mother's voice whispered. Kurt opened his eyes to see her standing next to his bed, the scented jar candle in her hand dispelling the darkness to the far corners of his room. Her yellow eyes glowed in the dim light, and her deep ruby hair looked even more so half hidden in shadows.

"Ngh…" Kurt grunted and groggily sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He got out of bed and ran a weary hand through his hair. He had been having the dream again, the one he'd had for many nights now. No matter how many times he had the dream, he could never remember just what it was about when he woke up. It was about something horrible, but beyond that he couldn't remember anything.

But Kurt certainly wasn't going to tell his mother that. She would scoff, saying he was perfectly all right and tell him to stop playing games, or else she would say that Kurt was getting weak and shouldn't be allowed to go on missions again until he started training harder. There was also a slim chance of his mother being truly concerned for his well-being, which wasn't much better. Besides the fact that he didn't want his mother worrying about him, having someone fuss over him like he was an invalid - or worse, a young child - was the last thing Kurt wanted to deal with.

Kurt was brought out of his thoughts by Mystique's voice.

"Remember what I have told you...the X-men are not to be trusted. Do not listen if they try to talk you over to their side, as I'm sure they will. They are more cunning than you can imagine, so only believe what you see for yourself." His mother spoke in a no nonsense manner that didn't quite hide her eagerness for the object they sought.

She moved towards the door of his room, and paused. "Go now, before they wake up." She admonished none too kindly, and opened the door to step into her own room. The door closed behind her, and Kurt's room was plunged into darkness in the absence of the candle.

Kurt nodded groggily, even though Mystique couldn't see it, and yawned widely. He stole a few moments to stretch and loosen up his muscles, before vanishing in a puff of red smoke and flash of yellow light. When he reappeared, he was on the roof of the Brotherhood house, looking around and getting his bearings. The night was cold and clear after a light rain, and a full moon hung in the sky, lighting up the city almost as brightly as the sun itself. A small breeze carried the scent of wet leaves from the park half a mile away, lightly ruffling his hair.

Kurt's mind cleared and his senses woke up completely, gauging the area for any sign of danger. After a moment, he teleported in the direction of the park, appearing on the roof of a building a few blocks away. Then, instead of teleporting again, he began running and leaping across the rooftops of the other houses and buildings, jumping from roof to gable to lamp post to roof again, sometimes slowing but never stopping. In five minutes he came to the park.

As before, Kurt didn't stop, and began leaping from tree to tree with far more speed and agility than a tree squirrel, and no chance of his missing a branch and falling either. In less than half a minute, he had crossed the park and could see the lake where the ducks and geese hung out between migrations. He spotted the shape of the Xavier Institute in the distance, on the other side of the lake. Kurt breathed deeply, trying to sniff out any danger from the Institute.

Nothing seemed suspicious from here, so he teleported across the lake and appeared on the roof of a building across the street from the Institute's front door. Most of the windows of the institute were dark, but there was a light inside the front foyer that faintly illuminated the porch, and there were floodlights and security cameras scattered across the grounds as a deterrent for thieves. Most of them, anyway, Kurt thought with a grin.

With a 'bamf' he did a blind teleport inside the Institute. It was true that he had a sort of 'sixth-sense' that prevented him from teleporting himself halfway inside a wall or something, but he still didn't like teleporting blindly when it could be avoided. And his 'sixth-sense' did nothing for his sense of direction. After releasing a breath he didn't know he had been holding, Kurt looked around to find himself standing in a long corridor, with yellowish wallpaper and reddish carpet. Everything was obscured in shadow, the only light coming a few small nightlights in the wall, faintly illuminating a row of doors that stretched from one end of the corridor to the other.

After a moment's hesitation and confusion, Kurt turned right and walked to the end of the corridor, quiet as a shadow. He turned the corner and found himself passing more doors and more corridors leading off of this one. He was quite disoriented by now. Pietro had scouted the place out earlier; his super speed allowed him to see every room in a matter of seconds, while anyone besides Professor Xavier himself would think he was simply a breeze from an open window. Xavier, of course, couldn't catch him before he was outside again and zooming back to the Brotherhood house.

Kurt tried to remember what Pietro had said. What had he said? The girl they called Shadowcat had her room on the second floor, to the right of the great staircase, left side of the hall, three doors down. But where in the mansion was he, Kurt, in relation to Shadowcat's room?

Cautiously, like a cat scared too many times, he padded along the hall, heading in the direction he hoped would bring him to the center stairway. Luckily for him, the end of the corridor opened onto a large foyer where a massive staircase led downwards into the gloom. Two huge lights hung from the ceiling, awkwardly illuminating the intruder as he stepped into their glow. There! On the other side of the staircase he could just see it, the third door on the left side. He darted towards the friendly shadows on the other side of the pool of light, but was stopped short by two voices below him. They were distant but growing closer. Instinctively, he teleported to the ceiling and shrunk back in the shadows directly above one of the lights. He listened closely, clinging to the ceiling like a spider and just as silent.

"Yeah, I wouldn't put it past her to send someone here to find it. You know as well as I do that Mystique doesn't give up easy." The speaker stepped into Kurt's view; he was a somewhat short, burly man dressed in nondescript work clothes, with dark hair and a smattering of stubble on his chin, his voice gruff. Surely this was the one called Wolverine. His mother had warned him of this mutant; he was a force to be reckoned with.

"Do you really think she would try? She knows that this mansion is well protected. Why would she attempt to penetrate the defenses?" The burly man's companion was a beautiful dark skinned woman, somewhat tall and quite shapely, dressed in a feminine white blouse and lavender skirt. What surprised Kurt was her waist length hair, white as freshly fallen snow. _That's odd,_ Kurt thought to himself as he studied her curiously. _Odd, you say? Why don't you look in the mirror?_ the cynical part of his mind retorted. He frowned as the two people below him continued their conversation.

"Hmph, wouldn't be too hard now that she's got a teleporter." The man called Wolverine was saying in response to the woman's questions. "For all we know, Storm, he could be snoopin' around in here right now." Wolverine paused and glanced around the immediate area, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Kurt almost laughed. What an idiot this Wolverine was. He was busy searching the hallway while the intruder was clinging to the ceiling above his head.

But then, Kurt heard something that made him tense with the fight-or-flight instinct.

"Wait." Wolverine began sniffing around the left hallway, poised to fight. Kurt felt his tail wrap around his leg, a habit he had when he was nervous. He bit his lip and swallowed hard, trying not to be too loud about it.

"There's someone here!" Wolverine snarled. The woman called Storm became instantly alert. Together the pair began to scan the foyer. The hunt was on…

XM:E

Rogue stared blankly out at nothing from her balcony. In the distance she could see the cliff's edge that marked the easternmost edge of the property. Beyond that, she could glimpse the sea. The moonlight sparkling on the water was beautiful, but she couldn't find it in her heart to care. So many thoughts were swirling in her head. School would be starting up again in a week, a fact that had been bothering her for awhile now, though in the face of recent events it hardly seemed significant.

She inhaled deeply and released her breath in a big sigh. She turned away and aimlessly went back inside her room. A glance at the clock told her it was almost two in the morning. Sleep had eluded her and now she listened enviously to the soft snoring of her roommate Kitty. Who could she tell about her worries and her sorrows? Would anyone actually listen to the girl who seemed to do nothing but complain, or would they simply pretend to and ignore her once her back was turned? Rogue scanned the room with something akin to sadness; the light from the full moon outside gave the room a soft glow, but she felt no happiness or peace in her heart.

XM:E

Kurt growled under his breath as the foyer came to life. Lights clicked on all around him, flooding the halls almost as swiftly as the people in the X-Men uniforms.

When trying to hide oneself shadows were friends; unfortunately, the lights had just made short work of them. It was only a matter of time before someone spotted him. With no other option, Kurt gritted his teeth, closed his eyes and blindly teleported in the general direction of Shadowcat's room. He didn't remember until too late that Pietro had mentioned something about Shadowcat having a roommate...

XM:E

Upon hearing a noise that sounded suspiciously like a small explosion, Rogue spun around into a fighting stance, only to find herself face to face with a demon.

Kurt's heart stopped as his eyes locked with those of the girl with white bangs.

Next moment, everything seemed to fall into chaos. The girl with white bangs screamed, more from surprise than fear. Kurt backed up hastily, his eyes wide and searching for an escape route, though he didn't notice how close to the bed behind him he really was. The brunette girl sat bolt upright at the sound of her friend's voice, then shrieked as Kurt collided with her bed and clumsily fell backwards onto her legs. She wailed in fear, convinced she was being attacked, and lashed out with her feet.

Kurt tumbled to the floor, his shoulder throbbing from where the brunette girl had kicked him, and scurried towards the door. But he stopped in his tracks with a howl of pain as his tail was crushed beneath the heel of the girl with white bangs. Next moment, the door burst open to reveal a flood of light and Wolverine, leaping towards the fray with his claws at the ready. But the would-be thief had roughly jerked his tail out from beneath his assailant's foot and vanished again, narrowly escaping the Wolverine's claws as they bit into the floor where he had been half a second earlier.

The dazed, startled, and sore blue teen found himself in a huge room that appeared to be made entirely of metal. He gazed around in wonder, but only for a moment. A voice of a young man rang overhead on loud speakers.

"Professor! He's in the Danger Room!"

Kurt didn't stick around long enough to see why it was called that. He blindly teleported again, appearing in a kitchen, a bathroom, a huge spherical room, a small study, then next to a sleek black jet in a fair sized aircraft hangar. Each time he teleported he was haunted by voices and people and shouting. His body was beginning to tire, his thoughts rapidly becoming desperate. He teleported for what he felt could be the last time he'd be able to manage this night.

Panting heavily from the chase, Kurt found himself in a medium sized, blissfully quiet room, its walls and floors sparkling metal, a few counters arranged around the walls in clean white marble. At the opposite end of the room there was a large computer screen flickering in the semi-light. He was about to bamf out again when his keen eyes picked up a glimmer of glass on one of the counters. His heart skipped a beat; he had found the vial at last!

"Figured you'd pop up here eventually, bub!" the gravelly voice of Wolverine mocked from the doorway before he could make a move. Kurt spun around, ready to fight, and promptly collided face-first with the bared hand of the girl with white bangs. This time she did not let go immediately. She held on with a painful grip; as Kurt fell into unconsciousness the last thing he saw was the Wolverine standing over him, smiling grimly.

XM:E

"I'm sorry, Professor, but this was the best Forge could put together on such short notice. I know you didn't want it to be this way, but it's the only thing that Mr. McCoy says will work at the moment." It was the sound of a young man that pulled Kurt's mind into wakefulness.

"I understand Scott. It is…unfortunate…that it had to be done." An older man replied with some reluctance.

"Huh. I don't see the hang-up. Way I figure it was him that started this. We got a right to some answers and if this the only way to keep blue boy here around…"

Kurt flinched at the sound of Wolverine's voice. However something inside told him not to move or open his eyes, but to take in all he heard. He was deep within the lion's den and had to tread with the utmost caution. The three men were silent for a moment. He wondered if they had noted his return to consciousness.

"Well…whenever he wakes up…" Wolverine's voice grunted. Footsteps faded away, and guessing by the pattern of footfalls it was two people who had left, one of them Wolverine from the heavier footfalls. Only one person left...could Kurt handle him?

Feeling only slightly more at ease, Kurt turned his mind and his senses to his surroundings. He was slumped against something hard and cold, as if he had been recently placed there. He wondered how long he had been unconscious. He concentrated on the sounds, but could pick up nothing but the low steady hum of some far away machine. Frustrated by the lack of clues as to his whereabouts, he risked opening his eyes. It took only a second to see a bald man sitting in a wheelchair a short distance away, studying him intently.


	6. Chapter 6

**8/9/2013 A/N: Chapter 6 has arrived! I removed the Author's Notes I had up before so the chapter count would be correct. It's kind of a long chapter this time, and that's pretty much the only thing I have to say about it. Enjoy!**

Chapter 6

If Kurt had been thinking quickly, he would have tried to fake being unconscious again so the bald man in the wheelchair wouldn't talk to him. But it was too late now, the man had seen him with his eyes open and alert. As things were, Kurt couldn't help but stare in surprise and suspicion. He had been warned about the dangerous powers of the man called Charles Xavier, and the bald crippled man before him certainly matched Mystique's description, but he didn't look anything like a dangerous person. He looked like, well, like a professor, dressed in an understated brown suit like he was on his way to teach his class at the university. Was he really as great a threat as Mystique had said? Seeing him face to face, Kurt wasn't sure just what to make of him...

"Kurt, we are not going to harm you." The bald man stated calmly, with no hint of anger or fear or falsehood in his voice. Despite the sincerity in his voice, Kurt was instantly on guard again. He mentally kicked himself for letting his guard down in the first place. When you find yourself in the heart of enemy territory, never trust someone who says they're not going to hurt you.

"We want to help you, Kurt." The bald man went on, gently.

{You can talk all you want, but I won't believe a word of it.} Kurt responded with cold disdain. He spoke in German instead of English - he had begun learning German some time ago, simply because he liked the language. And speaking a foreign language could be useful against some who didn't understand it.

Unfortunately, Xavier didn't seem to get the hint, or else he knew German himself, and tried again.

"Please Kurt, just hear me out and consider what I have to say..."

{I'm not listening to anything you have to say, old man. You'd better not touch me or I'll bite your hand off, and that's if you're lucky...} Kurt practically growled, still speaking German.

Xavier shook his head sadly; even if the boy hadn't said anything his thoughts rang clear on the telepathic level. What had Mystique told him to make him so angry, and so afraid? Xavier knew he should have been ready to receive a reaction like this, but it was difficult to listen to someone so young already filled with hate.

Kurt tore his hard gaze from the bald man and glanced at his surroundings. This room was bare and somewhat small, and very much like the room where he'd found the vial. He had to be close. If he could just…

*Kurt, I'm afraid escape is quite impossible.*

The younger mutant bared his teeth, his yellow eyes flashed angrily in the professor's direction. {Can't you shut up, old man?} Kurt snapped at the bald man. He couldn't help wondering privately to himself, _how does he know my name?_

With a heart-stopping chill, he realized the answer at the same moment that Xavier replied.

*I know your name because I can read your mind, Kurt Darkholme.*

Kurt stared, horrified, at the bald man in the wheelchair, his tail wrapping itself around his leg again. So it was true...Everything his mother had told him was true...What was he going to do now? Was there anything could he do? Fear gripped his heart like someone had just doused him with ice water.

Kurt tried to scoot away from the bald man, but something stopped him. He silently gasped in surprise and surveyed himself with growing anguish. Only now did he realize that his wrists and ankles were encircled by thick metal bands, each one attached to some sort of metal wire that ran down into holes in the floor, greatly limiting his movement.

Kurt snarled in warning at the old man, trying to hide his fear. _Enough of this!_ His screamed in his mind. _Forget the vial, I'm gone!_ He clenched his eyes shut and turned his focus outside the mansion, picturing the friendly rooftop across the street in his mind...nothing happened. His eyes snapped open again, and panic rose in his chest like treacherous floodwaters.

_I...I can't teleport!_

"Calm yourself Kurt. Please, I only want to talk."

The sound of the professor's voice, even though he wasn't speaking via telepathy anymore, seemed to make the young mutant go wild. He shrieked an ungodly oath and struggled against his bonds, his already glowing yellow eyes seemingly mad with torment. It was like someone had struck him with a burning brand.

"Stay out of my head, old man!" Kurt yelled with furious desperation, no longer bothering to speak German. He promptly lunged at Xavier with fangs bared and stopped short, held back only by the bands that bound him.

"Please, I only wish to speak." Xavier's quiet plea went unheeded by the blue mutant.

"I know what you want, you pig-dog of a psycho!" Kurt screaming harshly at the top of his lungs. "You want to get inside my head! You want to steal everything I know and brainwash me and use me like you use all your lackeys!"

Xavier couldn't help but recoil at the viciousness and hatred of the boy's outburst. He sent a telepathic message. *Logan, I need your help.*

His throat growing ragged and his voice hoarse from yelling, Kurt quieted somewhat and sank to his knees, his hands covering his head protectively. He couldn't help whimpering softly. He'd been told what the madman in the wheelchair did to his victims…Would he ever get out of here? Would he ever see his mother again?...

"Please Kurt…"

"No…" the teenager wept, his energy drained from his struggle. "Leave me alone…stay away from me…stay away..."

"You called, Chuck?"

Xavier sighed and shook his head, "I'm afraid there's not much we can do right now… He is not ready to listen."

"I'll make him ready, sure enough," the burly man stepped forward and hoisted the teenager up by the front of his shirt. He didn't get any further than that.

"Logan, no! Put him down!" Xavier ordered, his voice sharp from worry for the boy.

Wolverine reluctantly complied, but not before giving the boy a menacing look. Kurt was trembling from fear and anguish and slumped heavily down on the floor. His tail wrapped itself so tightly around his leg it was painful, but he couldn't help it. He covered his face and sobbed breathlessly, overwhelmed by a flood of emotion.

"Yer lucky this time, monkey." Wolverine muttered and strode out of the room, obviously annoyed.

Xavier sighed sadly as he gazed at the boy crouched on the floor, cowering like he expected a beating. So much for showing no aggression. The professor rubbed his temples wearily and sent another telepathic message, this time to someone who would be a little more quiet-mannered.

*Ororo, will you please bring some bedding down?*

*Of course, professor.*

After a short wait, the white haired woman entered the room, her arms full of thick soft blankets and a large pillow. She set the bedding down within easy reach of Kurt, but one glance at her and he cringed, huddling against the wall as far away as his bonds would let him. The white haired woman paused in her movements, stricken, and made a move like she was going to give the boy a hug and never let him go. But she thought better of it, and stood up again without touching him.

When Kurt made no move to accept the blankets, Xavier sighed resignedly and left the room. Eventually, the white haired woman went away too, casting sad glances over her shoulder at the blue mutant still huddled against the wall.

Kurt's recent emotional ordeal had left him absolutely exhausted. He had no idea what time it was, or how long he'd been in the Institute. All he could do was wait for the people to leave, hoping against hope they wouldn't hurt him. When everyone finally left, he allowed himself a sigh of relief that was more like a sob, and reached for the blankets with a trembling hand. He curled up into a little ball and covered himself completely with the blankets, hiding from prying eyes.

He didn't realize it when he finally fell asleep, his tail still loosely wrapped around his leg.

XM:E

"Muh…huh? Wha?" Kitty mumbled as she felt herself being shaken roughly. She opened her sleep-heavy eyelids to see Rogue standing over her. "Uhn…whadda you want?"

"Kitty, I need a huge favor from you." Rogue talked low and fast, like a person conspiring behind another's back.

" 'M tired. Go 'way…" Kitty rolled over, but Rogue grabbed her shoulder insistently.

"You can take a Shadowcat-nap later! I need you now!"

Kitty rolled onto her back again and glared half-heartedly at the Southern girl. She propped herself up on her elbows with a frown.

"What." It wasn't a question. Rogue folded her arms.

"I need you to get me into the room where that teleporter guy is being held." Rogue stated with complete seriousness.

"Eww! No way!" Kitty responded immediately, all sleep dispelled by what Rogue was suggesting. "That guy's like, a total freak! Besides, we're not allowed…" She trailed off, averting her gaze from Rogue's.

"Gawd, don't have a fit or anything. For one, the Prof's not here, and two, all I need is a quick shot of your powers…" Rogue wasn't the wheedling type, but she was getting pretty darn close to trying it.

"No way. I'm not, like, assisting you in crime. Wolverine would be so mad!" Kitty protested.

Rogue rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly, "What he don't know can't hurt him! Now come on, let me borrow some of your power." Rogue felt confusing emotions rising inside of her. Was this really the right thing to do? And why did Kitty have to give her such a hard time?

"Ugh. I'm not letting you borrow my power, but there's no way that I'm letting you go down there alone either. I'm coming with you, to make sure that thing doesn't totally eat you alive or something." Kitty grunted with finality and got out of bed, reaching for her bathrobe and putting it on over her pajamas. She huffed in annoyance and stalked over to the door, muttering grumpily to herself.

Rogue hesitated; she didn't really want anyone coming with her for this, but if the teleporter did try something, then Kitty's phasing power would keep her safe, at least long enough for her to get out of the room and go for help.

Rogue followed Kitty out into the hall and to the elevator. They stepped inside and Rogue reached for the buttons, but hesitated for a moment, thinking. Kitty's words in the bedroom reminded her of something - when was the last time the teleporter had eaten? She punched in the number for the floor with the kitchen, and the elevator went down.

"Rogue? This isn't the right floor..." Kitty pointed out as the doors opened again.

"I'm just going to get him some food." Rogue somehow managed to keep from snapping at Kitty.

The brunette girl made a quiet 'oh' sound, but Rogue didn't notice. She moved towards the kitchen, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of someone else. Kitty stuck close to her, looking around anxiously and probably expecting Wolverine to come out of the shadows and start interrogating them. They it made to the darkened kitchen without incident, and Rogue moved towards the refrigerator. Kitty stayed by the door, anxiously waiting.

Rogue opened the refrigerator, the light within illuminating a large white rectangle on the floor with a Rogue-shaped shadow in it. After quickly scanning the food inside, she took out all the things she thought the teleporter would like. Leaving the refrigerator door open for the light, she set everything on the counter and grabbed two more things, a large plate from the cupboard above her and a loaf of sliced bread from the breadbox an arm's length away.

With everything at hand, Rogue began making a plate of sandwiches for the teleporter, trying her best to be quiet and not rustle the bread sack too loudly.

"Hurry up, Rogue," Kitty whispered apprehensively, the suspense wearing on her nerves. Rogue didn't reply, but worked faster. She made three sandwiches, piled high with cold-cut meat and all the different vegetables she could find, and put them on the plate. She quickly put the sandwich stuff back in the refrigerator, and left the door open long enough to see where the big fruit bowl was on the counter. She grabbed an apple and a banana, and put them on the plate. With the plate full to overflowing, she closed the refrigerator door and carefully held the plate so nothing would fall off.

"Kitty, get some cookies and a bottle of water for him, will ya?" Rogue ordered rather than asked.

Kitty reluctantly moved across the kitchen to get some cookies from the cookie jar and a bottle of water from the refrigerator. She wrapped the cookies in a paper napkin and hurried after Rogue, who was already moving towards the elevator as fast as she could without dropping the plate of food in her hands.

**A/N: In case some of you are wondering about my other stories, I assure you they will be updated soon. Just be patient with me, okay?**


	7. Chapter 7

**8/18/2013 A/N: Hi, everyone! Some of you may have noticed a few differences between chapters regarding Rogue's speech patterns. Up to Chapter 4, her Southern accent is represented mainly by using "Ah" in place of "I" and similar phonetic sounds. In Chapter 6, this is further represented by the spelling G-A-W-D instead of G-O-D. This is all from when SD1o1 posted this story on his/her account first. I just copy-and-pasted everything into my own word processor for editing. From Chapter 6 onward, I changed the spelling and such on purpose. Why? Because, for the life of me, I simply cannot type out Rogue's dialogue in anything like a Southern accent without completely ruining it. Why didn't I change things like that in all the previous chapters as well? Simply put, I don't feel like editing chapters that I've already posted on the site. I want the story to advance as much as any of you readers. I might get around to editing everything so it flows better after the story is all typed up and posted, whenever that will be. So, that explains that.**

**And now, it's time to stop rambling and get to the part that everyone really wants to know about: Chapter 7!**

Chapter 7

Kurt covered his face with his hands, still almost entirely hidden under the blankets. His chest felt tight, as if the weight of the world was pressing down upon him. He knew he wouldn't stiffen up from his mother's embrace now, if she were here. But she wasn't, and that madman Xavier could be back at any moment. He had scared away the cripple once, or so he told himself. He wasn't sure if he could something like that again, and he knew that Xavier hadn't really been scared at all. Surprised maybe, but not scared.

What would happen to him now? A few tears dampened the fur on Kurt's face, and then a few more. Strict though she was, his mother had always protected him, shielding him from the angry eyes of the world and fighting back like only a mother can. Now she was as far away as the moon, it seemed; he was helpless and alone, trapped in a mansion with any number of psychotic killers. A sob rose unbidden in his throat and sent a shudder through his tired body. He knew they would do something horrible to him, brainwash him and torture him and whatever worse things they did to their enemies here…

Kurt's head jerked up. Most other people wouldn't have heard anything just yet, but Kurt's sensitive ears picked up the sound of voices past the thick walls of his prison, distant but getting closer. He could hear every word that was spoken as clearly as if he were standing next to the speaker. He swallowed heavily and braced himself for what was sure to come, listening in silence.

"Are you sure about this, Rogue? I mean, that thing is dangerous! I heard it tried to rip out the Professor's throat last night!" Kurt recognized the voice of the brunette girl called Shadowcat as she talked worriedly to someone.

"He has a gender, you know." The clearly annoyed response came from the other person, a Southern twang that Kurt recognized as the girl with white bangs.

"Who, the Professor? Whatever. It's still dangerous." The brunette girl insisted. The voices stopped just outside the thick metal door of the room that held the imprisoned Kurt.

"Well? Ya gonna let us in or what?" Came the white-bangs girl's voice again, still annoyed.

Surely she wasn't talking to Kurt, was she? Kurt's heart was pounding; he needed a plan, and fast. He glanced desperately around the room, but he was still shackled by the metal bands that thwarted his teleportation. There was nothing to aid him in his plight, and he doubted throwing his pillow at the girls would accomplish anything. It would just make them angry, more likely than not...

Kurt was shaken out of his desperate thoughts when he saw the two girls step through the door without opening it, like it was nothing more than so much fog. Both girls were wearing their pajamas, the brunnette girl also wore a fuzzy pink bathrobe. She took away her left hand from where she had been lightly gripping the other girl's shoulder. She carried a bottle of water awkwardly tucked under her right arm, and a small paper parcel of something in her right hand. The girl with white bangs was carrying something that looked and smelled like a plate of food.

Kurt knew better than to believe that it was just a plate of food. Poisoned food, more likely, or perhaps some sort of elaborately designed gas bomb, set to go off when the girls left the room. He scrambled backwards as far away from the girls as he could before his bonds halted him.

"Hey, take it easy. I'm not here to touch you." The white-bangs girl offered quietly. The brunette girl hung back, peering at Kurt with curiosity and nervousness from over the other girl's shoulder.

White-bangs knelt on the floor before Kurt, and set down the suspiciously innocent plate of food. She carefully pushed the plate towards him with a sad smile.

"I thought you might want somethin' to eat." White-bangs said by way of explanation.

The food filled Kurt's ravenous eyes, like there was nothing else in the world. He was hungry, very much so. But the real question was: could he trust the person who just gave him the food? Kurt somehow managed to tear his hungry eyes away from the food and focus on the girl kneeling in front of him. She met his gaze for a moment and looked away, absently twisting a lock of white hair around her fingers.

"Go on, it's not poisoned." She prompted quietly, as if reading his thoughts. She still looked away.

Kurt's sense of caution, wavering in the presence of the food that he wanted so much, was bolstered to some degree. White-bangs' words meant safety, but how did she know he was worried about poison unless she was reading his mind? If she was reading his mind, then, clearly, she was up to no more good than that madman Xavier. Aside from that, her body language was saying exactly the opposite of what her mouth did. Instead of looking him in the face she had turned her gaze elsewhere; to Kurt, that a sure sign that the white-bangs girl had something to hide. What if the food really was poisoned?

The white-bangs girl, seeing that he wasn't convinced, sighed sadly. After a moment she spoke again, still in that quiet voice.

"Here, I'll prove it," she said, and picked up a sandwich. She took a large bite out of it, chewing and swallowing in silence. She set it back down, and proceeded to do the same to the other two sandwiches. Kurt watched wordlessly, rather surprised at the girl's actions but still expecting her to keel over and die from poison. He wouldn't admit it, part of him was hoping she would leave enough food for him when she was done.

When the last sandwich had been put back on the plate, White-bangs spoke up again.

"See? No poison. I'm perfectly alright, and so will you be, too."

That was all the incentive Kurt needed. He leaned forward and grabbed the nearest sandwich, hungrily bolting it down in oversized bites like he hadn't eaten in days.

_Yikes, what freaky hands._

Rogue shook her head angrily, trying to force the unwanted thoughts away. She focused on the food instead, and was surprised to see that the blue mutant had already started on the last sandwich. As the last few bites disappeared, she idly wondered if he burned off calories every time he teleported, for him to be so hungry. She suddenly realized that the blue mutant was staring her, silently waiting for her next move.

The Southern girl dropped her gaze under his scrutiny and shifted nervously. She noticed that the fruit hadn't been touched.

"It's all right...The fruit ain't poisoned, either," she prompted. After a moment's hesitation, the blue mutant picked up the apple and carefully sniffed it all over, like a cat examining a bowl of food that it wasn't accustomed to. Only after very careful examination did the blue mutant bite into the red fruit. In less than a minute only the stem and the seeds remained. The blue mutant was examining the banana in the same manner when Rogue remembered something. She turned to her brunette friend.

"Kitty, pass me the water and cookies," She said, or rather ordered. Kitty, moving in the blue mutant's direction somewhat reluctantly, handed Rogue the bottle of water and the little parcel, immediately stepping back once her hands were empty. Rogue turned backed to the blue mutant who, thankfully, had found the banana to be completely harmless and was now eating it. Rogue set down the bottle of water and the little parcel of cookies within easy reach of the blue mutant.

Kurt, without waiting for any further words from White-bangs, dropped the half eaten banana and grabbed the water bottle. He unscrewed the lid and only took a quick sniff before tipping the bottle up, draining it of its contents in five seconds flat.

White-bangs watched silently as he set the empty bottle down and picked up the banana again.

"I guess I should've brought more." White-bangs murmured absently. Kurt wasn't sure if she was talking about the water or the meal in general. Her voice sounded sad again, he noticed. Why did she sound so sad? He furrowed his brow in thought, trying to figure out why he cared if she were sad or not.

"Like, how much longer will this take? The sign says you're not supposed to feed the animals." Kitty's voice carried unmistakable derision that seemed to cut the air like a knife. It hard to believe that such a nice looking girl like her would speak that way on purpose.

Kurt couldn't help but flinch at the insult. He hid his face behind his hair, and the banana slipped out of his hand and fell to the floor, forgotten.

White-bangs noticed all of this, and her jaw tightened in anger.

"Kitty, why can't you just shut up!" she spat, turning towards the brunette girl and balling up her fists like she was ready for a fight.

The brunette girl huffed and turned away. She ignored the girl with white bangs, but Kurt didn't.

"What do you want?"

Rogue spun around at the sound of the blue mutant's muttered words, like he was speaking against his will.

"I…I just wanna talk." Rogue relaxed her hands, as she felt her spirits lift somewhat at the progress she was making. They fell again at the blue mutant's next words.

"Yeah right, and so does your professor." His tone was distant and quietly cynical. "Why won't you people just leave me alone?"

"Well…" Rogue took a deep breath, bracing herself for whatever reaction the blue mutant might have towards what she was going to say next. "Kurt…"

His head rose at the mention of his name, his eyes wide from surprise and fear.

"Kurt...I'm your sister."

**A/N: CLIFFHANGER! Or not. You already saw this coming, didn't you? Well, see you all next chapter, whenever that will be!**


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